The vote comes a day after the United Nations voted to end its authorization for the NATO mission. Libya's National Transitional Council had requested that NATO stay through the year and delay making its decision to leave until the NTC had assessed whether it would need NATO's help securing its borders, but the alliance went ahead with today's vote nevertheless.

NATO officials said that member states could end up leaving behind some warships in order to enforce the arms embargo, which has been loosened so that the NTC can begin building up its defense arsenal, but it has not been entirely lifted, Reuters reports. Qatar's top general also said earlier this week that it may head a new alliance to provide support for Libya after NATO's departure. The alliance would likely include some current NATO members.

NATO has been clear that it does not want to be involved in any way that requires deploying personnel on the ground in Libya, Reuters reports, although it hasn't rejected the idea of forming a "long-term security cooperation."

US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said the UN resolution that ended NATO authorization was an important step, but one that caused some trepidation, CNN reports.

"We're very concerned that, as we move forward, that the authorities make maximum effort to swiftly form an inclusive government that incorporates all aspects of Libyan society, and in which the rights of all Libyan people are fully and thoroughly respected, regardless of their gender, their religion, their region of origin," Rice said.

The intervention in Libya has been touted by President Barack Obama as a new model for international intervention – one in which the US shares the burden of responsibility and cost with other countries, the Monitor reports. However, calling it an "international" intervention may be overstating the reality, since the military action was dominated by the US, Britain, and France and Germany – a key NATO member – was totally absent. It's so far unclear whether any other countries will continue to work with the NTC after the conclusion of NATO's mission.